


HUGO

by wildewriter99



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Coming of Age, Family Drama, From 3 years to 16 years old, Gen, HUGE SPOILERS, Hugo grows up!, Spoilers, There are twists XD, This doesn't completely follow canon I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2083941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildewriter99/pseuds/wildewriter99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There are many elements of your life you can create to make yourself happy.<br/>Friends. Escape. Entertainment. A world of your own.<br/>But just because you are happy doesn't make your creations any more real than what you think is a heart in that dark, empty cavity of your chest.<br/>The most real thing in the world is something you need to search for.<br/>Empathy.<br/>Take it from someone who started their search far too late."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "I'm not trying to save myself"

Hugo woke from a nap on the couch before he would’ve liked to. The air was tense and throbbing again. They were screaming.  
“He’s only three years old, that boy. Give him time and he’ll grow out of it!”  
“I don’t think deafness is something people can grow out of, Marie.”  
“Ask the doctors! They’ve seen it before. It’s just an infection. Once he starts to heal, he’ll heal for good!”  
He slammed his hand on the kitchen table, “Those white-collar snobs don’t know anything! If the Lord meant to give him such a defining trait, he’s not going to ‘grow out of it’ until he dies. He wouldn’t bestow this curse on our child for no reason.”  
She threw her hands down and spat, “You and the Lord! I swear it’s like you’re married to Him now.”  
The air was cold and still. Hugo reached for the biggest pillow on the couch and slumped behind it.  
A hiss sliced through the silence, “Get out of my house.”  
Two little eyes crept over the side of the hand-sewn pillow.  
She crossed her arms, “Do you mean to sleep with Him while I’m gone?”  
“GET OUT!”  
A shiver ran straight down Hugo’s spine like a lightning strike.  
“And take your damned baby with you.”  
She stood tall as a queen by the dishwasher and sink, “Are you seriously selling your son to save yourself? I’d rather go to Hell than let Hugo live without a father.”  
He shook his head fast enough to blink and miss it, “Y-you don’t understand…”  
One hand pulled a drawer open. He took out the knife without a second glance.  
She turned around and walked straight into the microwave, “Shit!”  
“I’m not trying to save myself.”  
It was out of his hand before she could look back.  
Her last breath puffed out of her lungs. It fogged the screen of the microwave.  
He took his weapon back and let gravity pull his wife down.  
 _Thud._  
“Now…”  
His head turned again. Slower this time.  
He locked his gaze on the child.  
“Mama?” Hugo whispered.  
He lifted one foot off the ground and stepped down. And another.  
Hugo sunk his fingers deep into the pillow until his knuckles trembled.  
His pace was agonizing. He wasn’t going to take any chances, though. Grab the boy before he gets away from him.  
He crouched down lower with each step.  
Hugo’s voice hit a sharp note, “Mama?”  
Two feets’ length away from his child, he stopped.  
“Don’t cry.”  
Two arms shot forward like snakes and snatched him up. One hand around his mouth, one hand around his stomach.  
Hugo thrashed and struggled as the walls of his home blurred around him and they dashed into the rain. Water coated them.  
“STOP CRYING, DAMMIT!”  
Sobs pushed against his hand and tears ran down his fingers.  
Blocks of yellow swam past them in the drowning city like fireflies. They could have been the only light in the world. It wouldn’t have made a difference either way.  
“Here.”  
He threw his son into the gaping maw of an alleyway in complete darkness.  
“May He end your life swiftly.”  
Hugo landed in a puddle as thunder struck. The muddy water sailed into his mouth and he coughed it up as he continued crying.  
Papa ran straight home.  
~ ~ ~  
Hugo was surrounded by softness and a strange whirring vibration.  
His eyes blinked open.  
There were two cats, one half as big as the other, both with fur of stunning white.  
“Meow,” said the big cat.  
“Meow,” said the little cat.  
“Mama?” said Hugo.  
The boy was lifted by the collar of his shirt. His bare feet dragged against the damp pavement.  
The alleyway extended in front of him. In the daylight, he saw it’s boundaries. Buildings of brick and mortar enclosing a road of empty grayness.  
Water dripped from the tops of the buildings. One drop plopped on Hugo’s head.  
Aside from the dripping, it was nearly silent.  
Nearly because the farther the two cats and the boy traveled, the closer a wave of indistinguishable murmurs and sighs and whispers washed over their way.  
Soon Hugo noticed the darkness wasn’t receding anymore. The whispering was almost deafening. Hugo felt the air buzzing and pinging with activity.  
They stepped into the blackness without hesitation.  
The breath stuck in Hugo’s throat. It was just like the blackness from last night. He didn’t like this.  
Thankfully it didn’t last for long. The whispers faded away and from the darkness emerged a door. A door, slick and grimy from the rain. A door, massive and towering by it’s sheer height. A door… what could it possibly lead to?  
The big cat hooked a paw around the door and pulled it open just wide enough for the three to slink through.  
The two cats dropped Hugo.  
“Meow,” said the little cat.  
“You may discard this theatrical ploy of stupidity now, brother,” said the big cat, “We are moments from entering The Room.”  
Hugo spun around to face the two cats. Somehow, they had changed.  
The big cat wore an impossibly wide, pointy-toothed smile and his eyes glowed with ageless wisdom, “Greetings, my wide-eyed, miniature comrade. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am most formally known as The Judge, but a choice few call me by my humbler first name, Pablo.”  
The smaller cat had a long row of teeth in an extreme overbite, “I am Valerie, Pablo’s younger brother.”  
Pablo rested his head on his front paws and stared up at Hugo, “Might I inquire as to what you prefer to respond to?”  
Hugo tilted his head to one side, “Mama?”  
Valerie flicked his ears to the side, “I don’t think he understands us, Pablo. You may need to, umm-” he spread open his paws and bent down two of his toes on each paw, “-speak in a way this child can comprehend.”  
Pablo chuckled, “Of course, of course. So, child.”  
Hugo shifted in his position and looked in each direction, “Mama?”  
“Ahem,” Pablo leaned his head forward and moved his mouth in exaggerated shapes, “Whaaaaat. Iiiiiiis. Yoooouuuuur. Nnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmeeehhhh.”  
“Hugo!” Hugo exclaimed.  
“Splendid,” Pablo nodded, “Now I wonder… how in the world did you stumble into the vicinity of my abode?”  
“Nuh-uh,” Valerie chided, “Wow, Pablo. You’re bad at this.”  
“Oh, right. Simpler terms.”  
“Where’s my Mama?” Hugo asked.  
Pablo and Valerie exchanged glances. The elder brothers’ smile became uneasy.  
“What is this your saying about your mother?” Pablo asked.  
Hugo bit his lip and lowered his head. Two little hands came up and pointed at his ears, “Can’t hear.”  
Pablo stepped back, “My goodness! Of course the boy cannot respond in the most common manner. He’s hard of hearing!”  
“I think we should continue this conversation inside,” Valerie agreed. He bent down to pick Hugo up again with his sizeable teeth in that same frozen grimace.  
“Hmmmmm,” Pablo brushed his whiskers against Hugo’s face, “I concur this discussion may last longer than we anticipated.”  
Without a second delay, they entered The Room.  
The door shut itself for them.


	2. "This is the first of what you may consider 'strange' phenomena in this area"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugo gets to know his two new feline friends a little better.  
> He is about to meet someone of a more bipedal nature.

The two cats, with Hugo in tow, stepped through the doorway and entered a chamber of absolute grayness. Gray walls, gray floor, gray flights of stairs spiralling down for what looked like an eternity. Piercing through the bleakness were a long string of candles, standing still against the grayness like a row of monks in prayer. They were performing their duty without an object in the meekest of circumstances.  
The feline avengers had their own duty to attend to, as Hugo would soon discover.  
Pablo took the first step, pulling Hugo and Valerie forward. Where else is there to progress but forward, he would say each time he and Valerie made the dizzying trek. He almost said that again to his brother but decided the quote had served its alloted time.  
Pablo decided to break the ice another way, “My delight is immeasurably large for this sudden development.”  
Despite the moist cotton in his mouth, he was still able to purr with some clarity. Valerie thought, “You mean, how we found this kid here?” His voice sounded like, well, like he had a wad of cotton in his mouth.  
“We have found the perfect companion for _him_ ,” Pablo curled his tail into a neat and tidy spiral, “And we had considered the theory that there was no one else so disadvantaged in the world. What fools we were.”  
“Actually,” Valerie wove his paws under Hugo’s dangling feet like knitting needles, “I thought we were just going to keep this boy company while his mother is out of sight.”  
Pablo darted around a corner and yanked on Valerie’s teeth, “Mmph!”  
The elder cats’ ears perked up, “Quite sorry about that, Valerie. But do you not agree that _he_ needs an increase of company of the… bipedal kind?”  
“I’m just afraid…” Valerie flicked his tail irritably, “No, no, I won’t even say it.”  
“Please, carry on with your concerns, dear brother,” Pablo turned his head back and glanced at him, “I value your opinion on this urgent matter.”  
The younger cat shrugged his shoulders, “Well, _you_ do-”  
“Up there!”  
Pablo and Valerie flinched at Hugo’s outburst.  
A chubby index finger pointed at the candles. The further they were walking, the further the candles began to lean. There were tilting from North… to East… to South East…  
Hugo’s face was flushing cardinal red.  
The cats’ tails hung limp, upright.  
… to South.  
“Hold on tight, kiddo!”  
The stairs had melted beneath them, and greeted them over their heads.  
“This is the first of what you may consider ‘strange’ phenomena in this area.”  
Hugo’s toes brushed the ceiling.  
“Oh.”  
They continued walking.  
Drops of red came sliding down the walls, like cranberry juice. Drops of orange and yellow followed, tears of the Sun. Droplets became splashes of green, green of every shade from ripe lime to haunted forest tree. Splashes became waves, blue; spring sky, stormy ocean, blackberry, shades none of the trio could name…  
The colors cascaded and formed a sea over their heads, flooding the stairs. Like oil and water, the colors refused to blend together, but held hands anyway. The colors crashed, one wave spraying foam. It gave Hugo a salty kiss.  
The little boy blinked in reply and licked his chops.  
“Looks like we came during high tide,” Valerie commented over the roar of the sea.  
“Let us hope this barrage of liquid doesn’t last too long,” Pablo said, “The feline gent does not enjoy being damp for prolonged periods of time.”  
“Well, at least we can grab a bite to eat from these wa- oh!” A fish sprang out from the water and passed a breath away from Hugo’s head.  
“Speak of the devil!” Pablo concurred, “But remember, brother, we have a child to escort.”  
Another fish, bigger than the previous one, leaped. It’s tail flew behind it like a flag. It was colorless, transparent. The trio could see every bone and organ in the fish’s body.  
As the fish began to a fall, a much bigger creature leaped. Transparent like the fish, but with a huge jaw of fangs in his mouth, a gate. It’s eyes were glossy and impossibly small, even smaller than the fish’es. One could say the creature saw with it’s stomach.  
A foot’s length away from the smaller creature, the predator opened it’s mouth.  
Hugo halted in his tracks. Pablo and Valerie felt him tense against their fur.  
“Do not be alarmed, boy…”  
The fish fell past the gate-  
-and exited through the creatures’ tail, without slowing down.  
“This lieu does not follow the laws of the land of the mortals,” Pablo purred.  
Hugo exhaled. The whirring of the cats’ voices against his ribs calmed him. He felt warmer.  
More creatures of every shape and size jumped and sprang and leaped from the water, and passed through each other like the blood that passes through everyone’s veins. Everything appeared so unnatural, yet it all felt so real.  
Hugo wouldn’t have known the difference anyway, being a mere three year-old.  
Soon enough, the waters began to quiet down, until there was a point of dryness at the top of another flight of stairs. The water lapped at the topmost step.  
Pablo and Valerie stopped and tightened their grip on Hugo’s collar.  
“Feel free to hold your breath, dear young, innocent compatriote,” Pablo said, “But always remember…”  
They took one step forward and were parallel with the last step.  
They fell.  
Hugo felt his insides flip in midair like a pancake and suddenly they were on the floor again.  
“Cats always land on their feet,” Valerie finished.  
The hallway was gray all around them once more.  
“It’s straight as an arrow from here, Hugo,” Pablo said, “We shall let you walk from this point on.”  
They dropped him, Hugo landing square on his backside.  
“Guess that proves he’s no cat,” The corners of Valerie’s mouth twitched.  
“Such a fine bout of hilarity, Valerie!” Pablo exclaimed, “I must say I am rather flabbergasted!”  
Valerie stared at him, “Don’t throw me a surprise party or anything,”  
His hindquarters swung back and forth as he marched past them.  
“Hmmmmmmm,” Pablo wiggled his nose, “Pay him no mind, Hugo. Valerie has been in an unusual mood as of late. Go on now, child. We’ve only a couple more yards to traverse.”  
Hugo paused for a moment before raising himself to his feet and teetering forward.  
“Strange kitty,” Hugo murmured.  
“I suppose he is a queer specimen, isn’t he?” Pablo noted.  
“No…”  
Pablo gave the boy a dubious look, “I’m sorry?”  
“You’re a strange kitty.”  
“Oh, ahahahaha!” A heavy laugh rolled out of Pablo’s gut, “Compared to most of the other cats I’ve gotten to know, I believe that is a true statement.”  
“You talk funny.”  
Pablo lifted his head, “I say the more accurate accusation would be that I speak at a higher level than most other variations of my kind.”  
“You _talk_.”  
The elder cat stopped… and nodded, “Yes, that as well.”  
They continued in silence until they neared the end of the hallway.  
“Has _he_ caught your glance yet, Valerie?” Pablo called.  
“ _He’s_ right in front of me.”


End file.
